1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to automatic document dispensing machines, such as teller-assist cash dispensers, for dispensing documents such as paper money, and particularly concerns a sorting feed mechanism for refilling the dispensing bins of an automatic document dispensing machine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Document dispensers are in common use today to feed documents, such as paper money, from one or more hoppers or bins to a user. One example, as illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 4,691,910, which is incorporated herein by reference, is a document dispenser manufactured and distributed by Technitrol, Inc. This document dispenser is used primarily for dispensing paper money in the United States and other parts of the world. This document dispenser has one to six bins for holding one to six stacks of notes of the same or different denominations ready for dispensing in selected number and order to a user. Each bin, which holds up to 500 notes, is filled by an operator. Generally, the operator is a bank teller who must handle large amounts of money.
While the operator must be able to fill and replenish the supply of currency in the cash dispenser, it is desirable to prevent an operator from gaining access to the complete contents of the cash dispenser, which then becomes a more secure document feed device. Consequently, losses from theft may be minimized and time spent counting the contents of the dispensing machine may be reduced. Other uses for a secure document feed device include use in supermarkets by point-of-sale cashiers who must handle large amounts of money, and use in convenience stores where it is desirable to keep the amount of money on hand at a minimum to reduce the likelihood of thefts and robberies and to reduce losses from thefts and robberies.
The prior art is replete with devices for selecting documents by their identification or denomination and transporting a document to a particular storage bin. Among others, devices having solenoid controlled levers are used to divert documents into a selected bin.
However, one of the problems encountered by document dispensing machines is misfeeding, hesitating, or jamming of documents as they are being transported to a selected bin. For example, in check sorters using a lever to direct documents into a bin, contact between the document and the lever causes the documents which contact the lever to slow down which leads to documents piling up, jamming, and misfeeding, thereby limiting the sorting mechanism's rate of processing documents.
Winkler et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,420,153, issued Dec. 13, 1983, discloses a document handling counting and examining device incorporating high speed rotary gating means. The device of Winkler et al. requires complex circuitry as shown in FIGS. 2-29 of Horvath et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,447, issued on Apr. 26, 1983, which is owned by the assignee of Winkler et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,420,153. As shown in FIG. 1 of Winkler et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,420,153, sheets are directed by gating roller 250 into directions including runs 194A and 196A of O-rings 194 and 196 from path 290. This complex mechanical arrangement and corresponding circuitry complicates the Winkler et al. device thereby increasing expenses of construction and operation. Further, the likelihood of sheets jamming is high in such a device having a complex, multi-directional document deflection or gating mechanism. Moreover, the physical configuration of the device of Winkler et al. does not lend itself to use as a sorter device for refilling the dispensing bins of an automatic document dispensing machine. The reason for this is that it is necessary that the refill mechanism fit into a flat horizontal volume above the dispensing bins with documents being fed along a horizontal path. The device of Winkler et al. must be configured in a vertical arrangement with documents feeding down from above, to be used to refill an automatic dispensing machine of the type represented with the present invention.